Secrets of a laser clinic specialist: The beauty treatment you must avoid before hair removal

When you book in for one beauty appointment, it's tempting to get the ball rolling and schedule them all in – especially as the summer dresses and beach days are now upon us.

But for laser hair removal devotees, there's one particular treatment you should hold off getting for a concerning reason. 

Aimee Quirke, the Global Head of Skin at Laser Clinics Australia, warns 9Honey getting a massage prior to laser can be "dangerous".

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Quirke recalls having to pause an appointment after realising the client had massage oil still on her skin, claiming it was "very lucky we stopped in time."

When exposed to laser, oil is flammable, which poses a "massive" risk to your skin if there are traces of body oil residue after a massage, the expert explains.

"A lot of people want to get all their beauty treatments done in one go, but it's one to just be conscious of, particularly in summertime, wearing oil on the skin," Quirke says.

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In fact, when it comes to any beauty appointments before laser, the specialist recommends a seven-to-14-day window on either side to avoid skin "being over-treated."

With summer in full swing, there are some rules around laser Aussies should be aware of – starting with knowing sun exposure rules.

Being exposed to sun before laser hair removal can actually make it more likely the laser won't pick up on your hair. 

"When your skin's exposed to sun, the colour within your skin starts to activate as a protector," Quirke says.

"But in the other sense, it also poses a risk to us when we're having laser treatments because we need that laser to only go to the hair and not to the skin."

On top of this, our skin is more sensitive during the summer months after being covered up over winter. 

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"The skin can have a little bit of a shock to the system essentially because it's not used to that sun," she explains, recommending wearing SPF and sun-protective clothing.

Having more sensitive skin doesn't mean you can't have laser hair removal in summer, just that specialists have to be "more cautious". 

Quirke says while the skin is more sensitive in the warmer seasons, getting the Brazilian area lasered is "totally fine" year round. 

"If [the therapist] sees a lot of that healthy tan in the skin, particularly if she's working the Brazilian or bikini line area where it could be quite notable, she may adjust those settings to suit, but to still keep your comfort in mind."

When it comes to fake tan, it's a no.

Quirks explains you "can't actually proceed with the treatment" if there's traces of fake tan on the skin. 

"The way the laser works is the laser attracts to colour, which is within the hair, but the laser doesn't know the difference between the colour within the skin or the colour within the hair."

Laser can bypass natural skin colour because it's a smaller pigment in the skin, whereas fake tan is a lot larger and will be targeted by the light. 

"What that then means is that it leads to adverse events, such as the potential for burning within the skin, because the light has such a high target for looking for that colour," Quirke says.

"It is dangerous because that is the whole way that laser works. It works by targeting colour. And so if you've got residue tan there, it puts the skin at risk."

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For women booking a Brazilian, there are typically two concerns – shaving and what to do if you get your period. 

Luckily, Quirke has the answers to both. 

"We love our patients to shave prior to coming in," Quirke says, advising shaving 24 hours prior or the night before your appointment provides the "best result."

"If there's hair sticking outside of the skin or not shaved hair, we lose a lot of that concentration of light to the external hair, which is going to provide no benefit for that hair reduction service," she explains. 

If you're hoping to get a Brazilian done on your period, it is possible, you just have to be really careful.

According to the laser therapist, your period can cause "heightened pain sensitivity" due to the change in hormones, so it is more ideal to have laser done outside of your cycle. 

But that doesn't mean it's completely ruled out. 

If you are getting hair removal on your period, Quicke says, "The preference is to have a tampon in as opposed to a pad just because of hygiene reasons.

"But the tampon string will need to be tucked in behind and we wouldn't be able to treat behind just with the tampon string there because that can be flammable."